When the iron door opened, the smell of blood mixed with the stench of decaying children's corpses wafted out. Jeanne stumbled back, her nails digging deep into her palms, her ice-blue pupils trembling violently—she had witnessed with her own eyes how five small bodies had slaughtered each other in the dark. The five-year-old boy with the knife and the six-year-old girl who lured others to their deaths had finally slit each other's throats in their struggle.
"You lost, Jeanne." Kanjuro's voice was like an ice pick piercing the dead silence. "So-called purity is nothing but an illusion when one hasn't been pushed to the brink."
Jeanne slowly knelt on the ground, her silver armor hitting the filthy floor with a dull thud. She looked up at the dark ceiling as if making a final confession to a god who had long since abandoned her:
"I accept my loss."
Every word carried the rasp of shattered faith: "You have proven that human nature is inherently evil, and a child's kindness is but an unblemished sheet of white paper—but tear it open, and an abyss still lies beneath..."
Kanjuro leaned down and lifted her chin, a strange, soft light swirling in his eyes amidst the darkness: "So now, do you still firmly believe that my heart is not absolutely pure evil? Perhaps I am simply the 'Awakened One' who saw through the truth first."
"You have only seen through human nature, not transcended it." Jeanne forced a broken smile, bloody tears seeping from the corners of her eyes. "You use the most precise blade to cut open the abscess, yet you never attempt to heal it. This is more despair-inducing than pure evil—because you could have been the light."
"Wrong." Kanjuro suddenly gripped her neck, his gentle whisper like the flick of a serpent's tongue: "I'm going to let you witness true absolute."
He turned and chuckled at Caster, who was curled in the shadows: "Go and capture half the children in Fuyuki City to be slaughtered. If you complete this—"
His words were interrupted by Jeanne's shrill scream: "Don't listen to him! Gilles de Rais!"
Caster's gaunt body trembled violently. He looked at Jeanne's blood-stained face, then at the dark contract appearing in Kanjuro's hand, and suddenly let out a laugh like a night owl:
"As long as it sets you free, my Holy Maiden! Even if I must burn every infant in this world to ashes!"
He grabbed the laughing Uryu Ryunosuke and rushed out of the underground passage, his cloak billowing with a frenzied determination.
Jeanne struggled to give chase but was restrained from behind by Kanjuro. He bit her earlobe and sighed softly: "Look, your last hope is running toward a deeper hell. The so-called knight sacrificing for love is, in essence, nothing more than a selfish madman."
Only the overlapping breaths of the two remained in the underground.
Jeanne stopped struggling against the absolute power gap and suddenly let out a hair-raising chuckle:
"In the end, you don't dare kill me."
She tilted her head to look at the demon behind her, the fire of some realization igniting in her pupils:
"Because you need an audience to witness this fall—just as a painter needs a canvas to hold their madness. If I die, your masterpiece will forever lose its most precious connoisseur."
Kanjuro's embrace suddenly tightened.
In the shadows where Jeanne couldn't see, a twisted expression—somewhere between anger and admiration—appeared on his face for the first time. Kanjuro's embrace still confined Jeanne, but his voice carried a distorted 'pity' that was almost like a sigh:
"Jeanne, you misunderstand me." His fingers gently combed through her disheveled silver hair, his movements tender but his words like blades. "I sent Caster to capture and kill children not because I am bloodthirsty by nature—or rather, not entirely."
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze fixed on the closed iron door where the five children had been imprisoned, his eyes deep and inscrutable.
"You see, those five children... the selfishness, betrayal, and slaughter they showed in their despair... that was the 'evil' hidden within them, triggered by an extreme environment. I didn't hold a knife to force them to kill each other. I simply... provided a stage and removed the mask of civilization. The 'evil' in their hearts was already deep-rooted, and they had lost the most basic sense of conscience and empathy. Therefore, their deaths were not by my hand, but were the bitter fruit of their own human evil."
His gaze returned to the unconscious Rin in his arms, his fingertips brushing against her tender cheek, his tone carrying a strange 'affection':
"Even if they are children, if they do something wrong—even if it's an unforgivable crime committed for survival—there might be reasons like poor discipline from adults or environmental pressure. But, Jeanne, look at that ten-year-old child, Kenta."
Kanjuro's voice lowered, carrying a hint of imperceptible mockery:
"What did he do wrong? He harbored kindness, tried to unite everyone, yearned for the light, and firmly believed that human nature is inherently good. But the result? He was the first to fall, dying at the hands of the younger children he wanted to protect. His 'kindness' was powerless before naked 'evil'; it even became his death warrant."
Jeanne's body trembled violently in his arms, not from fear, but from a bone-chilling cold and rage. She snapped her head around, her ice-blue eyes now seemingly frozen with ten thousand years of frost, staring fixedly at Kanjuro:
"So... so you did all this just for your damned 'verification'! Just to test if Caster and Uryu Ryunosuke would obey your even more insane orders! You'd let those children... let countless innocent children in Fuyuki City be swept into this... this doomed drama directed by you?! Are their lives just chips for you to test human nature and toy with people's hearts?!"
"Yes." Kanjuro admitted frankly, a sinister and pleased smile even appearing on his face. He leaned close to Jeanne, whispering almost against her lips, his breath carrying a hellish chill:
"So, Jeanne, do you understand now? The fate of those children, whether Caster and Uryu Ryunosuke will commit this monstrous slaughter, whether Fuyuki City will turn into a sea of blood... the final decision for all of this actually... depends on you."
These words were like the bell of final judgment, booming within Jeanne's already battered soul!
"De... depends on me?" she murmured, her pupils contracting from extreme shock and absurdity.
"That's right." Kanjuro's smile widened like a blooming flower of evil. "If you had 'awakened' a little earlier and agreed with my views, perhaps I wouldn't have had to conduct this final test. If you were a bit stronger and could break free from my restraints to stop Caster... or even if you hadn't had that naive and stubborn 'faith' from the beginning, none of this would have happened."
He skillfully and maliciously twisted and distributed all the cause and effect, all the guilt, finally placing it like a heavy shackle firmly around Jeanne's neck.
"You see, sometimes even your most cherished friend might not have betrayed you. He might even be willing to give everything for you, falling into the abyss and being damned forever..." Kanjuro's voice was like a devil's whisper, pointing in the direction Caster had left. "But in the end, what he brings is not salvation, but deeper pain and sin. Doesn't this 'evil fruit' born of 'good intentions' make one feel even more despair?"
The light in Jeanne's eyes was completely extinguished. She slumped powerless to the ground, as if all her bones had been removed. Black, ominous magical energy rose uncontrollably from her body like flames of despair, wrapping around her silver armor and staining her once-holy aura with deep shadows. In her ice-blue eyes, tears accumulated over hundreds of years finally fell, but they were no longer clear; they were murky, black tears tinged with blood.
Kanjuro looked at her completely broken state, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes. He slowly crouched down and reached out his hands, embracing the darkness-shrouded Jeanne in a manner almost like hugging a savior. His voice was heart-wrenchingly tender and atrociously cruel:
"So, you know what you must do, my dear Jeanne." His lips pressed against her ear, like a final command and a revelation opening a new chapter:
"Crying and despair change nothing. Repentance and prayer cannot save the children who are about to die."
"Take up the weapon in your hand."
"Not as a Holy Maiden protecting the people, nor as a fallen one seeking redemption."
"But as... the 'Dark Arbiter' who carries out the final 'judgment'."
"Use our way to end this 'nightmare' sparked by 'good intentions.' Go and stop that 'old friend' who has gone mad because of you."
In his arms, Jeanne slowly and stiffly raised her head.
In those eyes flowing with black tears, there was no longer any confusion or pain, only an absolute cold and silence that froze everything.
The Holy Sword in her hand—its blade burning with dark red flames—seemed to feel its master's final transformation and let out a low, joyful hum.
Darkness had finally completed its final consumption.
Over the next few days, Fuyuki City was shrouded in a silent panic. News reports, street gossip, missing person posters... all clues pointed to a hair-raising fact: children were disappearing on a large scale and in bizarre ways. They weren't being snatched from dark alleys; they were walking out of their own beds, on their way home from school, and even right in front of their parents' eyes. With vacant stares, they walked toward the same direction as if sleepwalking—toward Mount Enzou, which overlooked the entire Fuyuki City.
An invisible wave of darkness, perceptible only to those with magical sensitivity, centered on Mount Enzou and drew the city's children like a whirlpool. Every time the midnight bell struck twelve, the fluctuation reached its peak, and more children, like hypnotized lambs, stumbled away from their homes and joined the silent procession toward the mountain peak.
Mount Enzou, the site of Ryudoji Temple, had been completely transformed by an alien atmosphere. Caster—Gilles de Rais—stood on an ancient altar at the mountain peak, his hunched figure seeming to merge with the shadows under the moonlight.
The codex of rlyeh, which had been broken and then crudely repaired by him through a wicked ritual, hovered before him. Its pages flipped frantically, emitting a magical glow as thick and foul as deep-sea sludge.
Obscure and difficult incantations spilled from his cracked lips, each syllable tugging at the dark force field enveloping the city.
On the open ground at the peak, a massive magic cage made of twisted metal and flickering runes had taken shape. Inside the cage were hundreds of children. They were of various ages, but all had vacant eyes, sitting or standing quietly without crying or making a fuss, as if their souls had been extracted, leaving only empty shells.
Outside the cage, below the cliff, was the pitch-black sea surface that swallowed the moonlight. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks was distant and blurred, like a low dirge in the background.
Uryu Ryunosuke stood not far behind Caster, his body trembling slightly from excitement and some inexplicable fear. He looked at the "materials" in the cage, his eyes flashing with a morbid longing. "Master... this, this is just wonderful! So many... so many perfect 'works'! Are we really going to... sacrifice them all? For Miss Jeanne's freedom..."
Caster did not look back, his gaunt fingers tightly clutching the grimoire, his murky eyes filled only with paranoid fanaticism: "That's right... Ryunosuke... this is a necessary sacrifice... for the Holy Maiden... for her liberation... everything is worth it!" His voice was hoarse, yet it carried a sense of solemnity and distortion, as if he were completing a great mission.
...Meanwhile, in the penthouse suite of a luxury hotel in Fuyuki City, a strange silence prevailed.
Tohsaka Rin curled up on the soft sofa, her small head resting on Kanjuro's lap. Holding a cup of hot milk in her hands, her face carried the happiness and dependence of a survivor.
"Uncle Kanjuro, thank you so much for saving me." She looked up, her ruby-like eyes full of trust. "By the way, those bad people... that weird uncle and that scary big brother, where did they go? They won't come back, will they?"
Kanjuro gently stroked her hair, but his gaze drifted toward Jeanne d'Arc, who stood silently by the window like a statue. "Don't worry, Rin." His voice was gentle and pleasant. "Sister Jeanne d'Arc will help us deal with those bad people. They won't hurt you again."
"Really? That's great!" Rin clapped her hands happily, then looked at Kanjuro curiously. "Uncle Kanjuro, you're a Magician too, right? I heard that weird uncle mention you; he said you were a... very scary but very amazing person." She tilted her head, seemingly unable to connect the word "scary" with the gentle uncle before her.
Hearing this, Kanjuro smiled softly and tapped the tip of Rin's nose. Avoiding the main point, he said, "Scary? I'm just a very ordinary Magician. When Rin grows up a bit more, Uncle will teach you some fun little magic tricks, okay?"
"No!" Rin pouted, tugging at Kanjuro's sleeve coquettishly. "I want to learn now! Teach me now!"
By the window, Jeanne d'Arc watched this scene expressionlessly. The impeccable "tenderness" Kanjuro showed Rin formed a sharp, nauseating contrast with the horrific preparations Caster was conducting on the mountain in her mind. She gripped the hilt of the holy sword at her waist, her knuckles turning white from the force, her teeth clenched as she suppressed the urge to rush out immediately. She was enduring, like a bowstring stretched to its absolute limit.
Kanjuro seemed to sense her almost tangible suffering. Without turning his head, his voice drifted over lightly, breaking the fake warmth in the room:
"What? Still hesitating? Still thinking about whether to give that crazy 'old friend' one last chance to turn back?"
Jeanne d'Arc's body trembled slightly. She didn't look back, still staring fixedly toward Mount Enzou. The dark magical energy gathering there was like an ominous lighthouse, stinging her senses. She gave an extremely slight nod.
"Heh..." Kanjuro let out an ambiguous chuckle and patted Rin's back soothingly, signaling her to be patient.
"It's fine, don't worry." His tone carried a composure that saw through everything, and even a hint of anticipation. "If you are always unwilling to act, or if you are still waiting for some miracle... I think someone will eventually be unable to hold back."
His gaze seemed to penetrate the hotel walls, casting toward other corners of Fuyuki City.
They were not the only ones watching this escalating disaster. Other masters and Servants hidden in the shadows, the Church forces maintaining order, and even the desperate cries of ordinary people who had lost their children... all were brewing a storm.
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